Acts (pt. 3)

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under Heaven by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

That's about as exclusive of a claim as anyone could possibly hear. Jesus says this himself in John chapter 14: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." When one rejects the Son, he's rejecting what the Father sent him to do, so the Father's wrath is still on that person rather than on Jesus on the cross.

"The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." Acts 11:26

Christians themselves didn't designate themselves "Christians." Non-Christians gave them that name because they were like "little Christs." They were Christ followers, so they called them by that name.

"Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him." Acts 8:2

While we can have confidence that a Godly person is with the Lord, there is nothing wrong with mourning the loss of fellowship with that person. Jesus mourned the death of Lazarus. Paul mourned for his unbelieving brothers. Death isn't suppose to happen. It is an evil caused by sin. One day, however, there will be no disease, aging, or death.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" Acts 17:24-28

Paul gives this talk while in Athens. What is interesting is that he approvingly quotes two pagan philosophers, Epimenides and Aratus. He was finding common ground with his worldview and theirs in order to help evangelize to them and help bring them to the truth about Christ. This must have taken a lot of studying. He probably spent a lot of time reading the philosophers and poets of that culture and learning about it in order to do this. It is also good for Christians to learn what other people believe and are saying in order to get a better understanding of them. This can help increase our own faith and help us evangelize with more effectiveness.